The departure of News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks further intensified the spotlight on the 38-year-old, who took charge of the family's British newspapers in 2007 and was a key figure in its disastrous response to the hacking revelations.

Murdoch told MPs the company had acted as "swiftly and transparently as possible", blaming the police, the Press Complaints Commission, and "outside counsel" for not acting sooner.

He said he did not become aware that hacking was widespread at the News of the World until "about the end of 2010", and has come under fire for his decision to pay out about £700,000 to football boss Gordon Taylor.

If the short-term fallout was the closure of the News of the World (with the loss of 200 jobs) followed by the abandonment of News Corp's bid for BSkyB, the long-term consequences go to the heart of the Murdoch empire. An end to the dynastic succession, perhaps?

Murdoch has come a long way since he was photographed dozing off at a press conference when he was a 15-year-old intern at his father's Sydney Mirror. The Harvard dropout set up hip-hop record label Rawkus before joining News Corp 15 years ago. But how much further will he go?